Today we start our "Inspire Us Tuesdays" series! (We postponed it today for those who wanted to participate in Kelly's Korner's link up yesterday). I am so happy to be getting this going and I certainly hope you all participate! (To see a complete explanation of this link up and the upcoming topics, click here). If you do not have a blog, please leave your story in the comments section!
Our first question is "Witnessing to a Friend:"Has God ever called you to witness to a friend? Were you were afraid?"
It seems that the topic of God seems to come up alot in casual conversations I have had in my life. During my 20s, when I wasn't walking close to God, and I was questioning alot of what I believed, God still seemed to come up alot in conversations. I wonder, sometimes, how those conversations must have come off to the people I was talking to. I was being "open-minded" and probably didn't lead people to believe I was actually a Christian. Within the last four years, since my walk with God has been closer and I have been doing my best to follow His plan for my life, conversations have come up much more frequently, especially within my circle of friends. Jason is a really good resource and knows much more about the Bible than I do, so alot of our friends will text him with questions about a story in the Bible or questions about Christianity, and he is such a great person to listen to on the topic. When we've had people over and the conversations start gravitating towards talk of sprirituality, he tells it like it is when people ask him questions. Sometimes, we like to sugar coat Christianity to people who don't believe or who are questioning things, don't we? I like to sugar coat the "hard parts" to myself sometimes. Jason doesn't do that, he isn't mean about it, but he isn't afraid to be honest, even if people might not like the answer.
One evening in particular, a friend of mine, whom I've known for over a decade, was over and we were talking about this, and I just looked at her and said, "In all the years I've known you, we've talked about your belief in God and your upbringing with church, but I have never once asked you if you were a Christian, like, have you accepted Jesus as your Savior?" It was astonishing to me that this was never something that occured to me to ask. I am glad I did!
Sometimes, our closest friends are the hardest to "witness" to, especially if we didn't meet them in places like church and we haven't always had God in our relationships. I have stopped calling it "witnessing" and just started having conversations and been open about answering questions people might have. I will bring up God in alot of things, not purposely, with the intent of witnessing, I have just found like lately, the more I am walking in His word, His name just tends to come up alot more. It's funny how that happens, isn't it?
I was listening to a comedian one day. He began to talk about religion and he said he didn't believe in God, that he was an atheist. But, he said, his best friend and roommate was a Christian and it never seemed to come between their friendship, and that his roommate never really brought it up to him, which he said, "was cool, I guess." Then he said something that surprised me, and I know he was being funny and using it as a punchline, but he said, "But, if he was going to heaven, and he knew I was going to hell, he was kind of a jerk for not wanting me to go with him." Ever since then, it made me see things a different way. If God gives me an opportunity to lead someone to Him, me not taking that opportunity was like me picking and choosing who I want to be in heaven with me, and how dare I take on that kind of responsibility! So now, I just let God lead conversations where they are going to go, and I pray that everyone I love will be in heaven with me, one day!
Your turn - have you ever witnessed to a friend?
Comments